THE seemingly unstoppable pub group JD Wetherspoon may be mortal after all.

THE seemingly unstoppable pub group JD Wetherspoon may be mortal after all.

After years of continuous expansion that has seen its outlets spring up across Wales and the UK, it announced yesterday that it is to offload 17 outlets no longer suitable for its portfolio.

It said all but one of the venues were former breweryowned pubs which, although still profitable, did not fit in with the company's profile.

Most are around half the size of the group's usual 4,000 square foot pubs.

The Laurel Pub Company is to pay #10m for the outlets - spread across England - although Wetherspoon will take a one-off hit of #2.5m in this year's results because the pubs have an asset value of #12.5m.

A Wetherspoon spokesman said, "A while back Wetherspoon flirted with purchasing and investing in small ex-brewery pubs and these are 16 of them.

"Although they are doing well in their area and making money, they do not fit in with the way Wetherspoon sees itself-developing." The deal with Laurel will see the outlets handed over in the next month.

It is only the second time Wetherspoon has shed pubs on this scale. In 1999, it sold nine of its pubs to the Ambishus Pub Company for #4.7m.

The company, which reported pre-tax profits of #25.6m in the six months to January, owns more than 600 pubs and employs more than 19,000 people.

Managers from the 17 pubs - in areas including Worksop in Nottinghamshire, Longsight in Manchester, Witham in Essex, Whitchurch in Shropshire and Wolverhampton - will move on to other Wetherspoon outlets.

Individual staff are also likely to relocate to other pubs within the company, the spokesman said.

Laurel was created in 2001 after Whitbread sold 3,000 pubs to Morgan Grenfell for #1.62bn.

It sold 2,300 pubs to Enterprise Inns and now has 625 managed pubs and bars, including the Hogshead and Champion brands.